Joseph P. Indusi

Ian Mac: The bolt pattern on the Buicks from the 1940's-50's was four bolts and I don't think the fans with a clutch will work. A straight 5 or 6 blade fan from a Buick or Cadillac (or possibly other GM car) before the advent of the clutch type fans is more likely to work. Ask the seller for the bolt hole size and spacing before bidding. Joe, BCA 33493

I agree with Rooster on the coils for 6 and 12 volt ignition systems. All the 6 volt systems I am familiar with have a 6 volt coil and no dropping resistor. The 12 volt coils are different and are usually used in conjunction with a specific resistor for that coil. Joe, BCA 33493

EdMinster: The mark on the flywheel is not easy to see unless you paint it with a white touch-up brush or white chalk. You need to get under the car and remove the lower bell housing cover, about 6 bolts. Then rotate engine until you see the mark. It is quite small and near the edge of the flywheel ring. Joe

I was able to install the 6 blade fan without removing the radiator. I assembled the bolts through the fan and the aluminum spacer, then slid this down in front of the pulley and started the bolts by hand. I then switched to a box end wrench to tighten. If you put the fan blade in place with the spacer and then try to install the bolts there is not enough room for the bolts. Joe

The routing of heater hoses depends on the transmission in the car. If you have a standard shift, the heater hose nipple near the thermostat housing goes to the heater core under the front passenger seat, it is 92 inches long. A hose from the other heater nipple goes to the heat control valve on the passenger firewall, this is 72 inches long. The other side of the heat valve goes through a "U" shaped formed hose to the nearest nipple on the defroster core. The other side of the defroster core has a hose 48 inches long that goes to the top of the water pump. This is one l9ong series flow of coolant. If the car has Dynaflow, the arrangement above is the same except that the last hose from the defroster core goes to a nipple on the bottom of the radiator. The water pump has two nipples for the two heater hoses that go to the Dynaflow cooler bolted to the side of the Dynaflow. From the above you can see that the radiators are different, depending on the transmission installed. Be sure to route these correctly or you will not get proper cooling for the Dynaflow. Good luck. Joe, BCA 33493

If the car is converted to 12 volts and you have a 12 volt coil, why do you ask what the effect of a 12 volt coil would be running on 6 volts? Joe

The shop manuals all say to use a mixture of heavy engine oil and powdered graphite. The intakes use small crushable type thin rings that fit over the pilot rings. Joe, BCA 33493

Carefully check to be sure that the oil lines to the oil filter cannister are tight and not cross-threaded. There should be a large rubber gasket under the cover and a tapered spring. The top bolt goes through the spring, large end up so that the smaller end of the spring holds the filter element down. The correct filter element will come close to flush with the top although there are small variations among filter manufacturers. Some filters come with smaller gaskets, one for the bottom of the filter and one for the top, in addition to the rubber cover gasket. Joe, BCA 33493

Aaron65: I do not know the part number of the Cadillac 6 blade fan, I just know the fan came off a 1958 Cadillac with AC. The original 4 blade Buick fan is supposed to be the same for all Buicks 1950-56 except with air conditioning. I think the earlier Buick fans back to 1942 are very similar so this might work for these cars also. I know there was a five blade fan for some models of the Roadmaster and this would likely bolt up as well. Good luck. Let me know if you can get a line on Cadillac part numbers for 6 blade fans. Joe, BCA 33493

My 53 Special has had the radiator recored and all the rest of the cooling system replaced. It never overheats but does run hotter in a long parade or on a hot day in traffic. So I reasoned that air flow through the core is the only reason why the temperature goes up. I found a 6 blade fan from a 1958 Cadillac with Air Conditioning and it bolts right up with no interference , even on my 45R with power steering. It also looks very much like the four blade original in that the blades have a relatively square shape and not tapered like the 5 blade Buick fan for the Roadmaster straight eights. The results were very good, the thermostat (160) keeps it at the tight temperature when at highway speed and during a 30 minute parade the gauge only moved to "N" in the normal range. The part number for the 53 fan blade is the same from 1950-56 for cars without AC. I will check to see if it will fit earlier straight eights. Joe, BCA 33493